Leah Richards: A New Beginning
by BlackChemicalLow14
Summary: Leah Richards is new to Saint Hearts. She's a quite and shy girl that has a lot of uncovered talent. She doesn't believe in herself much which results in her bad grades. But when she passes her ICT exam and Tom puts in a good word to Frank, has she just landed herself with a job as an MI9 agent? (Dan/Keri, Tom/OC, Stella/Frank)
1. New School

_**-Leah's POV-**_

I brushed my hair to my right side. My first day at St Hearts, and to be honest, I was not ready at all. I hated school. The only things I liked about it were the music lessons, the art lessons, break, lunch and then going home at the end of it. The rest of it was crap. I slung my backpack around my shoulder and put my earphones in. Slamming the door behind me, I left the house and started walking to school.

_**-Keri's POV-**_

"Keri!" Aneisha called me over to her. I wondered over to her and was greeted by a hug.

"Hey!" I smiled, Dan was standing there was his hands in his trouser pockets, trying to ignore the attention Melissa and the girls were giving him.

"He looks like he's having fun." I giggled. Aneisha laughed and pushed me towards him, his eyes widened at me.

"Hey! Neish! That was not cool!" I said, blushing slightly. He smirked and pulled me into a small hug. I was sure it was just to get Melissa and the other girls away. I mean, why else would he hug me?

"Hmph." I heard Melissa mutter and then walked off with her minions.

"Hey, Look. Is that a new girl?" Tom asked and pointed towards this girl walking through the gates. She had long black hair, a pair of black skinny jeans on, a white polo shirt with the St Hearts logo on it and a black hoodie.

"By the looks of it." Aneisha agreed.

"She looks a little lost to be honest." I smiled.

"Do you think we should help?" Dan suggested. I shrugged.

"Maybe, I mean. I think she could totally use it." I smiled. Aneisha nodded and we both walked over to her. We smiled nicely and she smiled a tiny bit back.

"Hey, are you a new girl?" Aneisha asked in a friendly tone.

"Umm. Yeah..." She mumbled whilst looking around the playground and the outside of the school building.

"I'm Keri, this is Aneisha or you can call her Neish for short." I introduced with smile.

The new girl nodded with a slight smile.

"We can show you around if you like?" Aneisha suggested.

"That might help. Thanks." She smiled.

"Cool. Dan, Tom! Get over here for a second!" Neish called. Dan and Tom were talking as the walked over.

"This is Dan and Tom. We kind of hang around with them." I introduced.

"Yeah, we don't really get on." Aneisha chuckled.

"I'm Leah. Nice to meet some people that aren't willing to kill me for once." Leah chuckled.

"Cool. Well, we better get your timetable and see what lessons you're in." I suggested.

"Yeah, that might help." Tom sighed sarcastically.

"Not helping Tom." Aneisha hissed but Tom just smiled.

"What?" He laughed.

_**-Leah's POV-**_

I followed Aneisha, Tom, Dan and Keri around the school building trying to find Mrs King or Mr Flatley. It wasn't hard as they were both in the office. Aneisha and Keri made an agreement. Aneisha knocks and Keri does the talking.

"Ready?" Aneisha asked. Keri nodded. Neish knocked on the door and Mrs King answered. Keri looked a bit nervous.

"Keri, Aneisha. Can I help you?" She asked.

"Yeah. We've got a new girl starting today. She here." Keri smiled and gestured for me to come forward. I stepped a little bit foward, revealing myself.

"Ah, Leah isn't it?" Mrs King said. I nodded nervously.

"Come in, and you two as well." She smiled and gestured for Keri, Aneisha and I to follow her into the office.

"Right, so we need to get you a timetable and your locker key." She said and rummaged what looked like Mr Flatley's desk for something.

"Here, this is your timetable." She said and handed me a folded piece of paper. I unfolded it and saw what lessons I had. I had English, Maths, Chemistry, ICT and Music.

Argh. I hated English. I wasn't too bad at Chemistry and Maths. ICT I didn't mind. But I couldn't wait till music!

"You'll be in the same English, Chemistry and Maths lessons as Aneisha and Keri here. But the other ones you'll have to find your own way around. Oh, and he's your locker key." Mrs King explained and handed me a small silver key that had the locker number engraved on it.

"Thanks..." I said quietly and walked out of the room quickly with Aneisha and Keri behind me. As soon as we left the office, the bell went.

"Right. English first. Follow us, we'll show you where to go." Keri smiled. I nodded and followed them to the classroom. There were quite a few people in the room already, they were all crowded round in a circle, talking about something. Keri sat down next to Dan and Aneisha sat down next to Tom. I found a seat that was empty and sat there. Luckily, it was right next to a window.

"Right, Hello everyone. We have a new student." Mrs King announced. Great, not only was I terrified of Mrs King, but I had to introduce myself.

"Come on, Leah. Stand up." She urged, I sighede in defeat and stood up nervously.

"So, this is Leah everyone. I expect you to make her feel welcome." She introduced. I sat back down, my cheeks burning with the embarrasment of everyone staring at me. I fixed my eyes on the board and started jotting down notes that Mrs King was writing down.

_**-Time Skip, ICT, Leah's POV-**_

So, it was my first day we were taking a bloody test. Great. Just great. I hated exams. I'd always get nervous and fail completely at them. I'm the worst. Literally, the worst. Luckily, we were allowed to listen to music. I plugged my earphones into my phone and scrolled through my albums and playlists. I found a playlist I liked and started listening to that. I had ten minutes to complete the test. It wasn't too hard, thank god. Most of it about Virus' and Hackers. It was kinda my thing, so I enjoyed it.

Before I knew it, the ten minutes were up and I had handed in my test. We all sat in silence and waited for our tests to be marked. I sat on my own whilst everyone had a partner. But I was at the back of the class, so I didn't mind it really. I was just daydreaming about music and stuff, when our marks got called out.

"Right, so most of you got just over 50%." Mr Flatley announced. I knew I was part of the just over 50% people. I shrugged and carried on daydreaming.

"And two people came top! Mr Tom Tupper as always!" Mr Flatley announced again with a grin. I looked over to Tom, he looked quite distressed, like he was bothered someone had got the same mark as him. Meh, it wasn't my problema anyway.

"And the new girl, Miss Leah Richards! Congratulations!" He announced with a cheery smiled. My eyes suddenly widened as I realised what he had just said. I came top?!

"What?" I thought out loud. He handed the test papers back out and I had got 100% on it. What?!

"Sir, I think you've got me mixed up. I didn't get all of them right, surely?" I said and put my hand up.

"No, I'm quite right, Leah. That's your handwriting, isn't it?" He said and glanced at my paper. Of course he'd know my handwriting, I had just had him for Chemistry.

"What?" I mumbled and flicked through the test papers. Wow, I guess I was good at something for once.

"Well, for those good marks, class dissmissed!" Mr Flatley shouted. I didn't need to be told twice. I packed up my stuff and put it all in my bag. I always make myself last out of the door, to avoid the rush. Then, just before I was about to leave, Tom came up to speak to me.

"Wow, I guess I'm not the smartest after all." He smirked.

"Honestly, I have no idea how I got those all right." I answered.

"Well, you're clearly good at ICT." He acknowledged.

"Meh, I never really listen." I replied honestly.

"Anyway, I'll see you around." He mumbled and ran out of the door. I sighed happily, knowing I had at least 45 minutes break before my favourite lesson. I wondered around for 10 minutes, trying to find Keri and Aneisha, but I couldn't find them anywhere. I could have sworn I had seen them a couple of minutes ago...

_**-Tom's POV, MIHIGH Base-**_

"It's true, Frank. She got 100% on her ICT test paper that was about Virus' and Hacking! She'd be great on the team!" I pleaded to Frank. I was trying to get the new girl on the team. It looked like she could use the help to make friends, what a better way to start?

"Yes, but Tom. The thing is, we can't hire her without seeing her in action on COMMS. She could be great with a pen and paper, but useless on the actual computer!" Frank sighed.

"Oh, Frank. Please, just give her a chance!" I begged. I barely ever begged or used puppy dog eyes. Especially on Frank. It's a risky buisness.

"Fine... Fine." He sighed in defeat.


	2. MI9

_**-Frank's POV, MIHIGH Base-**_

I looked up this new girl Tom was talking about. Her background said she was a bright girl, but she doubts herself. Hmm, it could work...

"I'll talk to Stella about it, but no promises Tom. Okay?" I sighed. Tom nodded with his "Thank you" smile.

"Right, now. Off you go, we haven't got a mission." I smiled. Tom sighed whilst nodding. He walked into the elevator and went back up. Now for the tricky bit, trying to convince Stella.

Let's just say, its been more than awkward since the kiss. But, we're co-workers at the end of the day, so we've got to work together. I phoned her and waited for her to pick up nervously.

"Ah, Frank. What a nice surprise." She said sarcastically.

"Hello, Stella." I sighed.

"What do you want then?" She asked, I could tell she was smiling by the tone of her voice.

"Well, Tom's got his eye on this new girl. I did a bit of research and found her past exam results. They weren't too good but the one today caught my attention..." I began.

"So you're thinking about having her on the team?" She interuppted.

"Well, we need a second person on COMMS, and Tom could do with some company too." I said, trying hard to sound convincing.

"Hmm, what's her name?" She asked.

"Leah Richards. She got 100% on her ICT exam, she could be great on the team!" I smiled, sounding full of confidence.

"Well, your judgements are as good as mine, pull her in and see what she's got. You're the head of the team, your choice." She replied.

"Stella... About that mission with KORPS..." I began.

"I'll talk about that later, Frank. Not now." She sighed and hung up. I shrugged.

Now, to find the girl...

_**-Playground, Leah's POV-**_

I was sitting under a tree alone, thinking about my old school and my old friends. I did miss them, a lot. I wished they could have moved here, but I had to get away from there. It was just horrible. Pushing these thoughts to the back of my head, I opened my sketchbook to a new, fresh page. I had gotten into this game called Blade Quest recently, I was quite good at it too. I decided to draw my own avatar, designing ever piece of armour and equipment myself. I was interuppted by the sound of a familar voice.

"Hey, Leah!" Keri grinned and ran up to me.

"Hey." I smiled.

"What are you drawing?" She asked and sat down next to me, peering at my drawing.

"Just some nerdy stuff." I chuckled.

"Ah, Tom will love you." She laughed.

"Ever heard of Blade Quest?" I asked.

"Tom never shuts up about it, honestly. It's all he goes on about!" Keri sighed in fustration.

"I can understand why, it's a good game. And the books are even better!" I laughed.

"Oh God, you are like a twin of Tom!" Keri laughed. I shrugged.

"Meh, does he play the drums then?" I asked.

"Not that I'm aware of! Do you play the drums then?" Keri responded.

"Yeah, well. I used to..." I smiled at the memories of my friends and I playing in music and having a laugh.

"Nice." Keri smiled and stood up.

"I better show you where music is, can't have the new girl getting lost, can we?" Keri tutted. I rolled my eyes, put my sketchbook in my bag and followed Keri to music.

"So, here we are. Oh, and that's Frank. He's our caretaker." Keri introduced and waved at him.

"Cool." I smiled. I looked at my phone for a moment and realised I had two missed calls.

"Uh oh, someone's not happy!" Keri said whilst peering at my phone.

"It's only my friend Keelin wanting to know how my first day is going." I laughed and turned my phone off.

"No boyfriends then?" Keri grinned.

"Err, No!" I laughed. The bell rang and Keri and I parted ways. I had music with a bunch of kids I didn't know. Fantasic. I sat down at the back of the classroom and waited for the Mrs King to come in. It wasn't like music at my old school. They didn't have any practise rooms or instruments.

"Hello class!" Mrs King said quickly as she walked into the classroom. I sighed, knowing this was going to be a long lesson.

"And today we're leaning how to read music..." She began, I very quickly got bored and opened up my sketchbook. I began to finish my drawing of my avatar on Blade Quest and colouring it in.

"Leah!" Mrs King called. I looked up from my sketchbook nervously.

"Yes, miss?" I answered and acted like I was paying attention.

"Are you paying attention?" She asked caringly, knowing there was no point in lying as she already knew I wasn't.

"No..." I mumbled.

"Dentention! And give me that sketchbook too! It's a distraction!" She ordered angrily. Great, my first day and already I had a dentention. I handed over my sketchbook on the page I was drawing on. I sighed knowing I had to listen now.

"Excuse me, miss. Could I borrow Leah Richards for a sec?" A voice asked. What? Crap. What had I done this time?

"Frank, what could you need Leah for at this point in time?" Mrs King asked. Wait... Frank was our caretaker that Keri had introduced me to. What did he want me for?

"I need to know which locker is hers, otherwise I'll use it as a spare to more of the caretakers supplies in it." Frank anwered.

"Alright, Leah. Off you go." Mrs King sighed. I picked my bag up and followed Frank out of the room.

"Right, Hello Agent Richards." He said, I looked at him with a puzzled expression. His accent had changed and it was now a British (Kind of Posh) accent instead of a London one.

"Umm. What's going on?" I asked as I followed him nervously to the caretakers cupboard.

"I'll explain when we get down there." He said. He pulled a mop inside a bucket and a quite warning sound was heard. Suddenly, we were plummeting down at very high speed. My clothes changed into my black skinny jeans, Nike Hi-Tops and a gaming t-shirt with a black hoodie over the top. My hair was curled to the right side of me. Wait... How could a elevator thing do my hair better than I could?! My make up was also done. Black eye liner that was flicked and on point, dark red lipstick and silver eye shadow to match the eye liner. I had to admit, I looked pretty nice.

"Welcome, to MIHigh." Frank introduced as the elevator doors opened. It was a dark underground base that looked pretty awesome. There were computers around some desks. There was a huge projector screen and a table in the middle of the desk.

"Wow. This is pretty cool." I commented. Frank chuckled as we walked through to the table. A woman was standing by there, looking at me. I looked to the floor nervously.

"Leah, this is Chief Agent Stella Knight." Frank introduced.

"Hi..." I said, she smiled at me.

"Has Frank explained to you why you're here?" She asked. I shook my head nervously.

"Not yet." I responded. Frank and Stella both turned to me and began explaining MI9, KORPS and MIHigh.

"Can you show us what you can do on computers?" Stella asked me.

"If you need me to." I answered. I sat down to the nearest computer and began showing my hacking skils, it began with easy levels, then gradually getting harder and harder. But I managed to do most of them and got quite a high score too.

"Well, that's a decision made." Frank said. I looked up at them.

"Welcome to the team!" They both congratulated me. I smiled and went back up to Music.

So, I was now working for MI9. I guess that's made my day a little bit better...

**A/N: Frella will be in the next chapter, as well as Deri and a little bit of Toneisha!**


	3. Argument

_**-The Next Day, Saint Hearts, Leah's POV-**_

I walked into school with a better mindset than the one I had yesterday. I was determinded to enjoy it and not be such a social outcast. It was going to be hard as I'm so used to people ignoring me at school. It was 8:45 so the bell was about to go, I looked at my timetable I had ICT first, then Geography, French, PE and Biology. Great. I didn't have my PE kit as I hadn't brought it yet. So, in other words I was screwed for the day. Whilst I was amongst those thoughts, the bell rang and I was forced to walk off to lessons.

_**-MIHigh Base, Frank's POV-**_

I sat down at one of the desks and sighed. So, Stella didn't talk to me after all. I was sad that she didn't want to know. I wanted to tell her, I needed her to know. I needed her to know that I still loved her. And I always would, no matter what happened or where she was. I loved her.

"Frank?" A voice asked that snapped me out of my thoughts. Stella was standing by the table.

"Stella? I responded as I looked up. She frowned at me in surprise, like she didn't expect me to reply in question.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Well, I came here to do my job. The team have a mission." She answered.

"Stella, We can't go on like nothing happened." I advised.

"We can! Nothing did happen!" She argued.

"Stella, seriously..." I began, she interuppted.

"Frank! Nothing happened on that mission! We could loose our jobs if anyone finds out!" She protested.

"Stella! No one is ever going to find out!" I shouted. She stayed silent. I knew she hated it when I shouted. But it was the only way to get her attention.

"Right... Good..." She said quietly. She turned to walk away but I grabbed her arm.

"Stella...I..." I mumbled.

"You?..." She asked and turned and faced me.

"I never stopped caring about you. I just thought you should know..." I mumbled. That was not what I wanted to say. What I wanted to say didn't come out of my mouth.

"I never stopped caring about you either, Frank. Here, this is the mission. I'll see you later." She said whilst handing me the mission file to look through. She turned to go, then turned back and pecked my lips. She walked off and I stood there in shock and amazement.

Maybe our romance wasn't dead after all?...

_**-Leah's POV, Break-**_

Again, at break I was sitting under the same tree, drawing and scribbling things. I looked at my phone and I had two messages. One from Frank (We had traded phone numbers until my spy stuff was delivered, which it should have been) and one from Keelin, my old school friend.

_Spy Stuff here. Come down to the base to get it -F_

_Where r u? We miss you here! Everyone wants to know if you're okay as you sound really ill! We're coming to visit after school! See youuuuu xxx -K_

Oh Crap. That wasn't good. I mean, it was great my stuff was there. But Keelin had discovered that I hadn't been in school and they were coming to visit afterschool. I'm literally going to have to run home from school. I quickly tapped back an answer to Keelin.

_Hey, I'm really sorry. i've got the flu. i dont want u to get it. if u still want to come and visit thats fine. but i really dont want to give it to you. you'd be like "plez stay away" aha. Luv ya xxxx -L_

"Hey! You're being anti social again!" Keri laughed. I smiled and put my phone back into my pocket.

"Yeah... Sorry, Keelin wants to know some stuff. I still haven't told her I've moved school..." I sighed.

"Ah, crap. Poor you. Anyway, I have news!" Keri grinned. I rolled my eyes, stood up and followed her over to Tom, Aneisha and Dan all standing by the gates.

"So, what's the "Great News" Keri says?" I smiled.

"Keri and Dan have finally admitted their feelings towards each other." Tom said and rolled his eyes.

"What? Is romance dead in the world of Tom?" Aneisha teased when Tom rolled his eyes.

"No...It's just...Forget it." He mumbled.

"What about you, Leah? See anyone you fancy?" Keri grinned, her fingers entwined with Dan's.

"Umm, no. I'm kinda staying away from boys. Previous experiences and all..." I said.

"Previous expriences?" Aneisha asked.

"Stuff I don't really want to talk about. Honestly." I said with a slight sigh. They nodded. I looked up at my phone and Frank wanted me down the base now.

"I've got to go, need to get a couple of things from my locker. I'll see you later." I lied. They nodded suspiciously, I walked away, walked down the hallway to the caretakers cupboard. I did the finger scan for the first time. I walked inside and pulled the mop lever. I plummeted down at high speed which made me feel a little uneasy and ill, but I tried to ignore it. My clothes changing into the stuff I wore yesterday and my hair and makeup the same. I walked into the base, Frank was standing by the table with a file in his hand and my equipment.

"Hello, Leah. Here's your equipment." Frank smiled and handed me my stuff.

"Thanks." I smiled and turned to walk away.

"We've got a mission. You've got your teammates to help you." He said. I turned back and nodded.

"Cool. Do Keri, Dan, Aneisha and Tom know I'm working with them yet?" I asked.

"No, they'll find out when they get down here." Frank answered. I nodded and put my phone on silent so it didn't go off during the mission. We waited a few minutes in silence for the others to come down. They came down and their eyes quickly darted towards me.

"Leah? What are you doing down here?" Keri asked.

"Team, meet your new teammate. Leah will be working with us from now on." Frank introduced.

"Wait, so you're MI9 now?" Aneisha asked with a grin.

"Nope. I just came down here for the hell of it." I said sarcastically, Tom chuckled.

"Anyway, we have a mission. Keri, Dan, Aneisha and I will be on the field and you two will be on COMMS directing us." Frank explained.

"And where are we going?" Keri asked.

"Just an warehouse just south from here." Frank responded. They got kitted out and left. I pulled out my phone, I had a text from my friend Torben.

_Hey, just asking if you're coming to band practise later? Max is coming, and he says he's been missing you from school. -T_

I quickly tapped a reply back.

_Yeah, I should be. I've got some stuff I need to talk to you guys about anyway, see you later :) -L_

"Phone away!" Tom chuckled. I rolled my eyes and put my phone back in my pocket.

"Someone's clearly popular." He added.

"Meh. I wouldn't say popular... More like social outcast." I stated.

"How many text messages do you get though? Loads!" Tom protested.

"Only people wondering where I am." I laughed. I looked at my phone, speaking of people wondering where I am, Keelin was phoning me.

"I better get this..." I mumbled.

"Who is it?" Tom asked. I answered just as he said that.

"Hey." I said calmly.

"Leah! Oh My God! Where the bloody hell are you! You've left me alone in tutor!" Keelin demanded.

"Woah, calm yourself, darling." I laughed.

"Seriously, though. I miss you." She said sweetly.

"Yeah...About that..." I mumbled awkwardly.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"I've kind of moved schools..." I said, awkwardly scratching my neck.

"So thats why you've been away?! You said you had the flu! And after everything? You got up and left?" She said angrily, but she sounded like she was about to burst into tears.

"I'm sorry... I just couldn't stay there any longer..." I apologised. Tom gestured for me to come and sit down for the mission.

"Look, I've got to go... I'll keep in touch." I said, trying to sound promising.

"I don't care anymore. Drop dead." She said and hung up. That's another friend lost. Great. Just great. I sat down in the chair next to Tom and stayed silent. I put my headset on and sat there in silence, waiting for Frank or the others to respond.

"You okay?" Tom asked.

"I'm fine." I said.

"Okay sure. Whatever. That's why you're extremely quiet." Tom said sarcastically.

"Can you just leave it? Please." I said sadly and looked down.

"Leah? Can you hear me?" Frank asked through the communicator.

"Yeah, I can hear you." I answered.

"Right, look for any strange things, such as boxes, crates etc." Tom advised.

"Any any guards." I added.

"On it, watch CCTV for us Leah." Frank ordered. I quickly tapped away on the computer and loaded up the CCTV footage. I looked back a couple of hours and found exactly what we didn't want. Evidence that KORPS are back.

"Umm, guys. I think I might have found something on CCTV..." I said.

"Like what?" Dan asked.

"Like evidence that KORPS are back. Like the Crime Minister literally standing where you are standing." I answered.

"That's exactly what we didn't want..." Frank sighed.

"And I've just found some old files directing to KORPS as well... This isn't good." Tom agreed.

"We're on our way back now. We need to see exactly what we're up against." Frank said.

"See you in a bit." I said and took the headset off. I looked at my phone, several messages from unknown numbers and numbers I knew. Most of them were really nasty messages I got from people before, but some were from my old friends telling me exactly what Keelin told me to do. To drop dead.

"I can't do this." I mumbled under my breath as I read every single one.

"What's up?" Tom asked, concern covering his tone.

"I need some air." I said and walked into the elevator. Tom walked after me and grabbed my hand.

"Well, I'm coming with you. For 1, Frank would kill me if I let you out alone. And for 2, It looks like you could really use a friend right now. So, I'm coming with you." He said, I rolled my eyes and sighed in defeat. We went up and back into school and outside into the playground. I finally felt like I could breath.

"So, seriously. What's been troubling you?" Tom asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, I just needed some air." I lied.

"Leah! Come on, I know something is wrong!" He said.

"Can you just leave me alone?!" I shouted and walked out of the school gates, not turning back.


End file.
